Building A Personal Learning Network (PLN) Using Twitter
Hi! Thanks for the return visit!
I began using Twitter in March of 2008. I know because I went back to see what incredible wisdom I had to share with the world at that time:
“working at the library 8:05 PM Mar 18th, 2008 from Netvibes”
Not exactly what you would call profound. It took me awhile to get past the idea that most of the world was just hanging out waiting for my response to Twitter’s prompt “What are you doing . . .”
Being as self-centered and obsessed as the next person, I could certainly understand the world’s fascination and interest in when I was searching the crevices of my toes or organizing the piles in my office but I certainly didn’t care about what other people (especially a crowd of strangers I had never met) were doing at the moment. When I realized that Twitter’s prompt was just a suggestion and that you could totally ignore it (which most people do), the Twitter world opened up.
Fast forward to how I use Twitter today. Here are some of the posts I’ve made and saved in my Favorites:
- WillSwartz Want inspiration? Here’s another great video! http://bit.ly/jQOvp8:11 AM Aug 6th from web
- WillSwartz Great video of 2nd largest aquarium –stunning! http://bit.ly/DlFs RT@73K1:59 PM Jul 17th from web
- WillSwartz Here’s a great list from AASL of the Top 25 Best Web Sites For Teaching And Learning –how many do you know about? : http://bit.ly/3BUWPn7:55 AM Jul 16th from web
- WillSwartz Another thought provoking video: http://bit.ly/12OZs33:54 PM Jul 14th from bit.ly
- WillSwartz Interesting video—Sir Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity? http://tnpr4.th8.us11:46 AM Jul 10th from web
- WillSwartz Some interesting thoughts in this video on Public Schools And Public Libraries http://668y6.th8.us3:52 PM Jul 1st from web
These are quite different than my first post on Twitter and just one example of the way my use of Twitter has changed. Now I focus on how I can contribute and share great content with others. I post links to great tools, articles, videos, resources and information that I think others will find helpful. As I do that, I grow and gain in the process. Every teacher knows that the one who teaches learns the most and it is the same with contributing to social networks. In focusing on contribution, I have received back a lot more.
In his book, Tribes, Seth Godin says, “The market [world] needs you (we need you) and the tools are there, just waiting. All that’s missing is you, and your vision and your passion.” The first reason why you should consider using Twitter to build a PLN is that we need your contribution to the conversation. We need your perspective, insight, wisdom and knowledge on a variety of topics. I’ll be better as a result of your participation, so let’s get to it!
More Reasons to Use Twitter to Build Your PLN
There are a number of reasons why Twitter is a valuable tool to use in building a PLN.
- Twitter is better than listservs: it moves the conversation to real time and has a much larger network of participants
- You can build a large PLN quickly and easily
- Meet and interact with people you would never get a chance to meet because of geography or time constraints
- Links to websites, articles, resources (my favorite)
- Social/professional networking/
- It’s like having an annotated microblog of what you find interesting
And, perhaps the favorite reason for educators: IT’s FREE!
How to Build Your Twitter PLN
Step one:
- Set up your Twitter account http://bit.ly/CQGUk
Step two:
- Create your profile. Check out the profiles of several others and you’ll get some ideas on what to include. You can view mine at: http://bit.ly/2YV3E Don’t worry about having something perfect–you can always edit.
Step three:
- Follow others (many will follow you back).
- Use the tools Twitter suggests when you start your account to add friends from your mail accounts and others where you already have contacts.
- Use search.twitter.com to search for experts or interesting people you know.
- When you follow someone, one of the best places to find others to follow is by looking at who they follow or who their followers are. Chances are you’ll find lots more people to add.
- Follow teacher lists and others at tweepml.org
- Add people from Follow Friday. These are people recommended by others that are worthy of following. Be sure to post others that you follow who post good content.
Step four:
- Follow the conversation. Spend some time just watching what people are posting. Follow interesting links. As you add more followers, there will soon be what seems like more than what you could possibly take in. Sort of like the image of trying to drink from a fire hose. I’ll share some tools in another post on how you can sort out good content from the Twitter stream.
Step five:
- Add to the conversation. Don’t be afraid to share. Start with your favorite web sites or online resources. If you like them, there are others who haven’t heard of them yet that will be glad you posted. As you share, others will take note and add you to their networks and begin to interact with you.
Step six:
- Connect with me on Twitter @willswartz and let me know that you’ve started your PLN! (I’ll follow you back
)
Tags: Education, learning, personal learning network, PLN, social networks, teachers, Twitter
